The alarm buzzed to life in Margo's bedroom. The first thing that came into her line of sight as her eyelids did their best to pry apart was the dim light of the gray morning sky shining through her window. She glanced over to the side to see the time hovering above her night stand in green holographic numbers.

"Shut up," she said, and the alarm went silent. "Thanks."

She grabbed her ThoughtControl piece and carefully adjusted it into her ear. Following a rather satisfying yawn as her body still did its best to wake up, she tapped the tiny button on the edge of the piece and a beep filled her ears and her head as it synced to her own thoughts.

"Good morning, Margo," the piece's automated voice said. ThoughtControl's automated assistant transferred directly into your mind and in a surprisingly comforting tone of voice, like an imaginary friend come to life. Only the wearer could hear its voice. "It's 5 AM, 49 degrees Fahrenheit and mostly cloudy with a twenty-percent chance of rain today. I highly advise wearing a coat. In fact, any clothing at all would be recommended since you are currently not wearing anything suitable for leaving your home."

She glanced down at herself, and sure enough she was in nothing but her underwear. She lazily trudged over to the edge of her bed and grabbed her robe, sliding her arms through the sleeves. "There. Happy?" she jokingly retorted to her ThoughtControl. "Load up my schedule please."

Her ThoughtControl piece projected a small lens in front of her eye. Her list of activities and times flashed across the screen like binary. Then her piece's automated assistant read it off for her. "To start off your morning, you'll be spending an hour at the gym before returning home to take a shower and have breakfast, which is estimated to take you approximately two hours to complete. However, your first day on the job at Psychwatch begins at 7 AM, so please try to be punctual. Good luck with your new job! Have a nice day!"

Margo smiled as she stood up from her bed. "That's reassuring," she said. "Well, better get ready then."

Those hundred and five minutes before her job began were spent rather well. It took her ten minutes to get dressed for the gym, one full hour to exercise as well as practice her self-defense moves once more, eleven minutes to shower, and fifteen minutes to get dressed for work. Psychwatch was known for having a silver color motif, so she went with a light gray blazer and skirt. The rest of her time was spent in her self-driving car as it directed itself to Psychwatch's headquarters.

She hastily scarfed down oatmeal as the city of Philadelphia passed by through her car windows. In the meantime, she also skipped through the radio's channels, never satisfied with any of them.

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, said a typical pop station DJ. And now up next is the latest hit from—

Look, but don't touch. Eat up the eye candy with Specter's VR Strip Clubs, whether in person at the club or from the comfort and privacy of your own home. Dozens of hunks and hotties, all in need of your attention. What are you waiting for—

I used to work as a taxi driver and this pregnant woman I gave a ride to told me she hated the violence toward children going on so recently, what with the recent reports of physical abuse and threats of school shootings going on. She says they deserve a chance at life and no one should get in the way. Then I asked her where she wanted to go, and she told me to drop her off at the abortion clinic—

Margo changed the station one more time as her car passed by the beloved Rocky Steps. She was only a few more blocks away from Psychwatch.

America 2045, the speaker on the radio said. For years, the rates in diagnoses of mental illness have skyrocketed, with approximately one in three U.S. citizens experiencing it in a given year. Suicide has remained the number one most common death among teenagers age fourteen to eighteen for the last twelve years. The War on Drugs was lost a long time ago, and the rate of substance abuse has followed nearly parallel to the rates of diagnoses. And yet there is still one question that continues to divide American citizens ever since the organization decided to introduce itself to the world: does the world really need Psychwatch?

As the announcer spoke, Margo used her ThoughtControl to access a nearby SanityScan for a quick evaluation of the nearby crowd. Bright blue numbers and words scattered across her lens as she granted herself access to these citizens' minds. Her Scan picked up thirty people, ten of which were diagnosed. Not a single person was higher than Threat Level 2. However, she did notice one person giving her another discomforted glance.

Psychwatch. Are they the perfect solution to our mental illness epidemic, or are they an overstatement to a problem made equally exaggerated by a few conspicuous individuals? While their healthcare developments and therapeutic services provided by the Empath division have received endless praise for their contributions to the branch of psychology as well as society as a whole, their law enforcement officers commonly referred to as the Neutralizers have garnered controversy for their erratically violent methods of taking down criminals, with many calling them equally as savage as their own targets. Critics have claimed they are doing nothing to end the stigma by using violence as a solution to prevent more violence.

A soft drizzle pelted against the car window, dimming the window with rain. Even through the distortion, Margo had a clear view of the graffiti beyond her. It had been catching her attention ever since she applied for her job at Psychwatch. It was the organization's infamous psi logo stretched across the exterior of a building covered by a large red X so bright, it looked as if someone had burned it into the wall.

It's understandable why this organization is so controversial, another announcer replied. They're every viewpoint on mental illness scrambled together into one gray blur. Some of them see their patients and their conditions as opportunities to instigate better people as well as to become better people themselves. Others see these potential patients as targets on the run, plagues in need of eradication. Guess some people just have different experiences with them.

Taking in her last scoop of oatmeal, Margo placed her empty cup into her door's pocket, contemplating one of the last things she heard. Opportunities to instigate better people as well as to become better people. She underestimated what influence she would have on the people she'd be helping out. Much like other slightly less humble inductees, she was a little more concerned on what effects her patients would have on her.

She needed someone to talk to. She clicked on her ThoughtControl piece. "Ellie," she fretted. "Do you think my patients will care about me if I care about them?"

"Aww, are you the kind of person who gets attached easily?" Ellie chuckled.

"Well yeah, but most people find that endearing." Margo cleared her throat. "Not the point!"

"Margo sweetie, you're twenty-three years old. I thought we left your insecurities back in high school. You're supposed to be the kind of person insecure people talk to to feel less insecure."

"If you're done talking yet," Margo continued with an eye roll, "I only asked that because I'm having some second thoughts on working as a Neutralizer."

"But I thought Carl said you're gonna be an Empath. Isn't that mandatory for most recruits?"

"It's not mandatory; just recommended. I'll be striving to help out people either way, but being an Empath seems like the least despised position at Psychwatch. And, according to Mom, the safest."

"Who cares if people hate you or not? The only person you gotta make sure doesn't hate you is yourself."

Margo couldn't help but crack a small smile at that cheesy line. "Well...you're not wrong."

"But then again, news coverage could get your ass kicked, so I still say do it so I can laugh at you when it happens."

A look of disgust immediately crossed Margo's face. "What the hell, Ellie?" she snapped.

"You have arrived at your destination," the car spoke. "Please remain in your seat. Your vehicle is currently seeking a parking spot."

"Nevermind, I'll talk to you later," Margo groaned.

"Someone is approaching the vehicle," the car said.

Margo looked up to see Carl standing a few feet away from her car on the sidewalk. Psychwatch's headquarters towered over the both of them, the logo hovering hundreds of feet above the rest of Philadelphia as a big silver hologram. Carl waved at her with an amiable expression plastered on his face. It was hard to believe someone as friendly as him worked with the polarizing Neutralizers.

Margo stepped out of her car and brushed the lint off her coat. She leaned down to get a glimpse of the LED light on Carl's ring glowing blue. "Morning, Officer Maslow," she greeted.

"I haven't heard you call me that since the day you invited me to your high school for Career Day," Carl laughed. "How you doing, Officer Sandoval?"

"Trying to keep cool, I guess. I was listening to the news on the way here. They didn't seem to like us too much."

"Sometimes, good people just aren't appreciated enough. And speaking of good people, you ready to be an Empath?"

"Considering how the news feels about Neutralizers, being an Empath suddenly doesn't seem too bad."

"Then you're really gonna like your first assignment." The two of them approached the door to the facility. "Did Mason or Andrade ever tell you about Cognitive Crafts?"

Margo's eyes widened. "No, they have not," she replied, cracking her usual small smile. "But that's okay. I know plenty about it already."